Rotative-winged aircraft



March 26, 1946. 'H. H. PLATT 2,397,154

ROTATIVE-WINGED AIRCRAFT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 4, 1941 INVENTOR.

BY 7 I AT ORNEY March 26, 1946.

ROTATIVE-WINGED AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 4, -1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVE MarchZG, 1946. -1- 2,397,154

ROTATIVE-WINGED AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 4, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 \s: & II/IA INVENTOR.

HWME PM I their own axes.

,Patented Mar. 26, 1946 UNITED sures, PATENT OFFICE N. Y.', mum

Corporation, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania The present invention relates to rotativewinged aircraft, namely aircraft of the type supported wholly or in part byone or more sustaining rotors, and more particularly to rotativewinged aircraft in which the rotors are articulated, that is, the blades of the rotors are hinged so as to flap, or swing freely in the vertical plane, and also pivoted so as to feather or rotate about They may also be free to la generally in the surface of rotation.

It is well known that rotor-supported aircraft have hitherto been deficient in stability. This has been due largely to the fact that the rotor blades, necessarily sweeping over a wide area, are

extremely sensitive to air disturbances whether from external sources such as wind gusts, or selfgenerated as a result of their rapid motion through the air. Thus any component of horizontal velocity relative to the rotor causes an overturning tendency due to the'increase in relative velocity of the blades when advancing toward the wind and the equal decrease in relative velocity when they are retreating train the wind. In the case of a rigid rotor the overturning tendency is transverse to the direction of the relative wind. In the case of an articulated rotor, on the other hand, the immediate eflect is to cause the advancing blades to rise n account of the increased lift while at the same time the retreating blades descend because of the reduction of lift on them. The consequence is the well-known flap-u ping of the blades. The result of this flapping is that the blades reach the highest point or their travel when passing the up-wind point in line with the relative wind and that they reach their lowest point diametrically opposite: Consequently the disc or cone swept by the blades is tilted away from the relative wind. Since the rotor is for practical reasons invariably mounted above the center of gravity of the aircraft, the tilt of the rotor disc causes a corresponding tilt of the entire aircraft away from the wind. The consequences of this efiect are still further asgravated by the fact that the tilt of the rotor generates a horizontal thrust component causing the craft to accelerate rapidly away from the direction of the airflow. Thus, a combined tilting and slipping motion is developed which at best requires expert handling of the controls if the aircraft is to be maintained reasonably steady and in the desired place. The same applies to disturbances tending to cause deviation from any uniform flight path. For these reasons primarily, rotativeewinged aircraft have been flown with any measure of success only by very expert pilots and Application February 4., 1941. Serial No. 311.355

even then have left much to be desired in the way of ease of handling and security against overturning. t One object of my invention is to overcome the adverse tilting tendencies by the use of means correlating flapping motions with feathering motions of the blades and thus to correct instability. Another object is' to provide a practical means of segregating or divorcing the cyclic rise and fall of the blades, known as flapping" function or flapping ability from the simultaneous motion of all the blades together, known as coning; to the end that variations in one may be employed for producing automatic adjustments in rotor dy- 'ward tilt of the cone which is developed in forward flight in order that forward flight may be maintained without inclining the aircraft forward to so great an angle as is otherwise necessary.

Still another object of my invention is to apply the novel stabilizing linkages and mechanisms of the present invention to rotors equipped with automatic pitch-regulating mechanismand cyclic pitch control mechanism, in such a way that the functions of each of the above instrumentalities remain unimpaired.

The principle underlying my invention is that of interconnecting flapping motions, that is, tilting displacements of the rotor disc as a whole, with the feathering control of the blades. Thereby an incipient disc tilt is caused to feather the blades; the maximum ieatheringangle occurring in any desired phase relationship around the revolution to the plane of the tilt. The feathering thereby causes altered distribution of lift around the revolution, and so in turn modifies the direction and amount of the resultant tilt.

The edects oi tilt-feathering interconnection may be conveniently classified by resolving them in relation to two planes at right angles to each other; the first the longitudinal vertical plane in which the wind direction is contained, and the other the transverse plane.

when the disc tilt is interlinked with feathering control so as to produce a feathering maximum in the transverse plane, the resultant induced tilt is in the longitudinal plane, and consequently it directly amplifies or opposes the original tilt tendency. Thus, if the linkage is such as to produce a maximum on the advancing side of the rotation circle the induced tilt is away from the wind and the original tilt is aggravated.

the original tilt component, but gives rise to an additional lateral component toward either side depending on the positioning of the pitch maxichanges are caused to occurin response to hori-. zontal relative displacement motions between the said centralized member and the. rotor hub. Since the horizontal motions of the centralized member relative to the rotor hub reflect closely the tilt of the virtual rotation axis of the blades,

substantially without response to, or uninfluenced by simultaneous (up or down) motions of all the blades, the changes of blade pitch take mum toward or away from the wind. An in- 4 vention utilizing this last effect is the subject of co-pending application Serial Number 377,354, filed February 4, 1941, in which .the lateral tilt existing in forward flight is neutralized by the contrar lateral tilting tendency induced by an interlinkage which causes a feathering with max imum pitch position away from the wind.

When, as is usually the case, the longitudinal tilt is accompanied by a lateral component. com-.

binations of the effects above described take place. In practice thetransverse component of tilt is always toward the advancing. side of the rotation circle. Consequently the direction of resultant tilt is into the rear advancing quadrant. Under these conditions,'an interlinkage causing a feathering maximum ninety degrees rotationally earlier than the resultant tilt direction,- induces a counter-tilt opposite to the original tilt, thus reducing directly the entire original resultant tilt. If the feathering maximum is, however, diametrically opposite the original resultant tilt, then the induced tilt tendency is toward the forward. advancing quadrant. The

longitudinal component of tilt is thus opposed while the transverse component of tilt is left unchanged. Since both of these two arrange ments of the feathering maxima tend to neutralize the tilt component away from th relative wind, either one of them or any combination of them is available for effective rotor stabilization, the choice depending on considerations of mechanical" convenience of the required linkage and on the type of design in which the rotor is to be incorporated.

It has been previously known in the art to interrelate flapping motions with feathering motions'of rotor blades, an example being theangled flapping pivot. In all previous attempts to apply this principle, however, there is no differentiation between coning and flapping in causing feathering. That is, a large concerted feathering of all the blades takes place when they rise or fall in unison. Any interconnection of flapping and feathering which might otherwise have been useful, has for'this reason given rise to cone responses which are prohibitive. This difficult is completel overcome by my invention, which employs for the first time means for segregating flapping from coning to any desired degree, thereby making available the ad-- vantageous interlinkage of flapping and feather- In carrying out my invention I employ in general some sort of centering means attached to the .rotor blades and maintaining, at all times, a mechanical member substantially central of the place in response to cone tilt or flapping and are substantially unaffected by general cone changes.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention. I have shown in the accompanying drawings specific forms thereof which are at present preferred by me, although it is to be understood that the essence of my invention may in practice be embodied in an of a wide variety of mechanical variations and equivalents, and that my invention is not limited to the precise construction herein shown and described.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like parts: Figure 1 represents a mor or less schematic fragmentary plan view of a rotor embodying one form of my novel stabilizer invention.

Figure 2 represents a side elevational view of' the same, artly sectioned generally on line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 2a is a fragmentary elevational view partly in section of the rotor blade mounting.

Figure 3 represents another schematic fragmentary plan view, similar to Figure 1, of the same rotor embodying a modified form ofmy novel stabilizer invention.

Figure 4 represents a side-,elevational view of the same, partly sectioned, generally on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 represents a more or less schematic,

fragmentary plan view of a rotor embodying my pitch-regulator and cyclic pitch-control means.

. Figure 6 represents a side elevational view of the same, partly sectionedon line 6-6 of Figure 5. I Figure 7 represents a sectional view on line 1-1 of Figure 6. The form of stabilizer in which a feathering maximum is caused to take place in a plane transverse to that of the tilt of the coneaxis is illustrated particularly in Figures 1 and 2, which show schematically one blade, with its operating and stabilizing mechanism. of a threebladed rotor; the showing of the two other similar blades being omitted for the sake of greater simplicity and clarity in illustrations; it being understood that the other two blades are similar and similarly related to and carried byv the hub and similarly connected with the operating and stabilizing mechanism.

The airfoil rotor blade 8, shown broken away, is attached to the socket-like eye pivot fitting or member l0 by any suitable means such as the tubular spar 9 telescoped and snugly fitting into the outer hollow socket-like shank of the fitting H), where it may. be securely retained by transverse pins or rivets or by any other suitable pins, nuts or the like; the assembly of. the eyev fitting l0 and the forked end of bearing housing II and the pin l2, comprising a generally upright or more or less vertical pivot allowing the blade 8 to swing freely to and no in the surface invention, including stabilizer' and automatic any other anti-rotational means.

of rotation 'withln suitablelimits; this to and fro motion about the pivot I! being generally referred to as the lag" motion. The bearin housing II is securely retained on the blade stub l3 through the intermediacy of suitable thrust and radial ball or roller bearings (not shown). so that the blade 8 is free to rotate generally about its axis or to "feather"; the actual "i'eathering axis being determined by the axis of the bearings, which may be assumed to be the common axis of members If and IS. The stub i3 is bored out transversely at its inner end to accommodate the pivot I l which serves" to retain it in pivotal relationship to the lugs l5 which arevformed integrally with the rotor head l6 (schematically shown and also shown broken away). The stub l3, lugs l5 and pin ll, thus comprise a generally horizontal pivotal attachment securing the blade =8 to the rotor hub l8 about a more or less horizontal pivot disposed transversely of the blade axis, while allowing it freedom to swing or flap generally in a plane passing through the axis oi. rotation Ill (although the ilapping plane may deviate from the axis ll).

A post I8 is mounted substantially centrally of the rotation axis ll, being attached to the rotor hub l6 by means of a universal joint IQ of the carden cross type; the post it being thus free to tilt in any direction relative to the rotation axis ll but being restrained from rotational displacement relative to the rotor hub it. The upper end of the post it is formed as a guide ill, of souare or other non-circular cross section. Slidably mounted on the guide 20 is a slide mem-- ber tit-which is free to slide axially up and down on the guide 28 but not to rotate about it. The slide 2i may be slidably keyed to the post it by Formed inte rally with the slide 25 are the pivot lugs 22, which are forked and bored to receive the spherically-seated bearing blocks 29, screwed into or otherwise securely retained in the forked lugs 22. Engaging with and plvotallv retained between and by the bearing blocks 23. are the ball ended links 2 3. the outer ends of wh ch are similarly retained in the similarly sphericallyseated bearing b ocks 25 in the ugs 28 formed integrally with the blades-stubs i ii.

Formed integrally with the post 98, or otherwise fixedly secured thereto. are the ball-ended arms 21; the outer s herical ends of which extend into and operatively engage a slot in the inner end of lever 28 pivoted intermediate its ends. The levers 28 may be pivotally mounted on pivot-ends Sll of integral extensions or arms M of the adjacent lugs l5, and their outer ends are also similarly slotted-to engage the spherical ends of the bent arms 2Q formed inte rally with or otherwise secured to the bearing housin s H;

a the centers of the ball-ends of the arms 29 being located in or closely adlacentto the extended axis of the pivot pins i i.

The rotor turns in operation in the direction of the arrow 30. r

The rotor hub it may be mounted in suitable bearings (not shown) supported by' any convenient type of aircraft structure, as for instance in a pylon structure extending from the fuselage. The hub may be mounted to rotate freely or to be driven by suitable gearing either in startin I tion then occupied by it (or without tilting the post l8 away from its alignment with the rotation axis). When, howeven'the blades on one side of the rotor rise or fall relative to those on the other, designated as flapping, the post I 8 is tilted to one side and, when the flapping is uniformly cyclic, the post l8 takes up asteady position corresponding to the tilt of the axis, of virtual rotation of the blades in their new state of motion. Thus no matter what may be the combination of coning and flapping," the post I8 will segregate the one from the other by tilting in the azimuth of flapping through an angle generally proportional to the flapping angle while being entirely unresponsive to cone changes. A tilt of the post It, in the plane transverse to that containing the axis of the blade 8 in the form of construction shown in Figures 1 and 2, causes the lever 21 to rise or fall, thus rocking lever 28 about its pivot fill. thereby raising or lowering arm 29 and thus providing a rotation of housing ll, with consequent change of pitch of blade 8. When the centers of the ball ends of levers 21. are in a plane passing through the center of tilt of the post it, as shown, a tilt of post E8 in a plane containing the axis of the blade 8, however, causes no feathering rotation of the said blades in the position shown in Figure l, but will cause a feathering maximum or minimum when that blade shall have reached a positionninety degrees rotationally later than the position shown. and the opposite minimum or maximum when it,has progressed to the position earlier than the position shown in Figure l.

l.'2omplete independence of blade pitch from coning is attained only when the center of the ball end 62 of arm 29 lies in the axis or in the line of the axis of the flapping pivot it. When lever 28 is rocked in response to flapping, the alignment is slightly disturbed. In practice, however, the displacements are comparatively small and the inaccuracy therefore negligible. When it is desired, as may in some designs be advantageous, to retain a small amount of pitch change in response to coning this purpose may readily be achieved by locating the ball end 62 of arm 29 out of the flapping axis in any desired direction, to a suitable extent. In this way not only may any desired amount of pitch response to flapping be retained, but the direction of suc pitch change may be selected at will.

From theabove description it is clear that in the construction shown in Figures 1 and 2 the interlinkage of flapping and feathering is such that the feathering maximum occurs substantially 90 behind the cone tilt direction. The blade pitch is thus increased above its mean value throughout the half revolution'behind the tilt direction. The blade is thus caused to rise throughout this half revolution, attaining its highest position due to feathering at the position toward which the cone was originally tilted. The eifect is therefore to reduce the original flapping. The rolling moment balance is, however, not impaired because the reduction in flapping is compensated for by an equivalent amount of feathering, balance being now achieved by a The arrangement j of by flapping alone, As previously explained,

the rotor stability is thus greatly improved.

The form of my invention illustrated particularly in Figures 3 and 4 is identical with that of 4 interlinkage is such that the feathering maxi-- mum occurs substantially in the plane of the cone tilt and diametrically opposite thereto; the

feathering inducing a cone tilt 90 rotationally.

the tilt direction is always in the rear advancing quadrant relative to a wind, the resultant has a less longitudinal component than the original tilt and the effect is therefore stabilizing. The lateral component of tilt is unaffected. The practical result difiers from that of the former arrangement only. in that lateral flapping is unchanged while longitudinal flapping is more effectively suppressed. In fact, with the arrangement of Figures 8 and 4,1ongitudinal flappingmay be entirely eliminated or even reversed, while with the arrangement of Figures 1 and 2, complete elimination of flapping is not possible.

of Figures 3 and 4 has therefore greater stabilization value, but may be objectionable due to the lateral flapping' When two rotors revolving in opposite directions. are used, the lateral effects generally neutralizeeach other, thus eliminating this dimculty. If the positions of levers 28 and 28 are reversed with relation-to the axis of the blade 8 the induced'tilt direction is 90 earlier than the original tilt, and the lateral flapping is reduced without chahging the longitudinal flapping.

With thischange Figures 3 and 4 would differ from the drawings of my copending application above referred to, only in that they show an ap-,

.plication to a three bladed rotor instead of a blade 58, shown broken away, is rigidly attached through its spar 8| and attachment sleeve 32 to the bearing housing 33, which is supported by suitable radial and thrust ball or roller bearings on the eye-fitting pivot member 34, so that the blade 56 is free to rotate or feather generally about itsaxis. The eye-fitting 84 is pivotally retained in the forked end of the link 85 by the pivot pin.36; the blade 54 being thereby given freedom to lag" or swing in the surface of revolution. The inneripreferably enlarged) end of the link 35 is bored to receive the pivot pin 64, by means of which it is pivotally attached,

through the lugs 31, to the rotor hub 38 (shown schematically" and shown broken away) the blade 58 being thereby given freedom to flap or swing in a generally vertical or upright plane. A

rotation axis, being attached to the rotor hub 38 by means of any suitable universal joint 48, which may be of the cardan cross type; the post 88 being thus free to tilt in any direction while being restrained from rotational displacement. The

7 upper part of the post38 is formed as a guide 4| of non-circular section or provided with any other anti-rotational keying means. Slidably mounted on the guide 4| is a slide member 42.

which is free to slide axially on the guide 4! but not to rotate about it. Formed integrally with the slide 42 are the forked pivot lugs 48 which arebored to receive the spherically seated hearing blocks 44, screwed into or otherwise securely retained in the lugs 43. Engaging with and D otally retained by the bearing blocks 44 are the ball-ended links 45; the outer ends of which are similarly retained in similar spherically seated bearing blocks 48 and the pairs of lugs 41 formed integrally with the links 35.

Formed integrally with the post 38, or otherwise secured thereto, are the arms 48 (one for each blade 56), to which are bolted or otherwise secured the spherical socket members or ball: sockets 48, universally retaining the ball-ends of levers 58, which levers 58 are bent so as to provide clearance for each other, as indicated by the other cross-sectioned lever 58 in Figure 6. The levers 58 are pivotally supported at intermediate their ends, in the upper forked ends of control rods 5| which pass generally vertically through suitable slots or clearances in the rotor hub 38, as shown in Figure 6. The lower ends of the control rods 5| are pivotally attached at 66 to the top flange of a control lever 52 which is universallyattached to the rotor hub 38 through the cardan cross universal joint 53 (or any other suitable universal connection). The control lever 52 (shown broken away) passes through the hollow spindle of the rotor head and engages suitable control means (not shown) whereby it may be held in any angularly displaced position.

The forked end 61 of the lever 58 is pivotally attached at 68 to the short link 54, which serves to connect it operatively to the inner end 68 of the lever 55 through the pivot 18; theipivotattachment 18 between link 54 and lever 55 having its center substantially in the extended axis of the flapping pivot pin 64, as indicated in Figure 5. Lever 55 is pivotally mounted at H, on the lug or lugs 51 forming an integral or rigid portion of the outer end of the link 85. The outer end 12 of lever 55 is connected, bymeans of a self-ali ning bearing or by means of a ball-and-socket joint, with one end .of the link 58, the other end of which is similarly connected to the pitch arm 58 forming a rigidly operative part of the bearin housing 33.

When acting as a stabilizer, the construction shown in Figures 5, 6, and '1 functions identically with that of Figures 3 and 4; reversal of the position of the actuating arms 58 being necessitated merely-by the introduction of the additional lever 55, in order to maintain the same direction of response. The operation .of the control is as follows: When the control lever 52 is displaced in.-

a plane normal to the axis of the blade 56, for example, the central pivot of the lever 58 is raised or lowered: this motion being communicated through the train of links and levers (54,

55, 58 and 58) so as to increase or decrease the pitch of the blade 56. If the control lever- 1583 maintained in a fixed displaced position as th rotor revolves, the pitch of all the blades underpost 88 is mounted substantially centrally of the goes a cyclic change of pitch with a maximum at one side of the rotation circle and a minimum at the other side. Thus the lift of the blades is greater at one side, causing them to fla and thus incline the direction oi thrust in response to the direction of displacement of the lever 52, in accordance with the known principle of control by cyclic pitch variation.

The operation of the pitch regulator mechanism is as follows: when torque is applied to rotate the rotor, the aerodynamic resistance causes the blade 58 to lag about the,pivot pin 86 until a position of equilibrium with the centrifugal restoring component is attained. The arm 59 is thus caused to move with the blade against the rotation direction 30, that is to the left in Figure 7. The end of lever 59 is constrained to follow an areuate path by link 58 (about the pivot center 12). creased during the first part of the lag, the rate of pitch-increase becoming less as the lag beairfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub so as The blade pitch is thus inv comes greater. When the link 58 is vertical the pitch ceases to increase with further lag, and decreases as the link 58 moves to the left ofthe vertical (Figure 7). This sequence of pitch-lag response has been determined to be best adapted for the various phases of power and autorotative operation, as further set forth in my copending application above referred to.

The lag responsive automatic pitch regulation shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 may be utilized without the superimposition of the manually operable control shown in these figures of the drawings. Thus, for instance instead of the links M, similar supports may be provided rigidly carried by the hub and without any capacity for raising and lowering the pivot points 55. However, if the manual control through the members 52 and 53 is not desired, then the links 59 and bi vrnay be entirely eliminated together with the intervening pivots 85, by merely connecting an arm at on the same side as the blade with the upper end of the link 56, thereby eliminating the links 50 and 5E and the ball and socket joint t9, and nevertheless retaining the same functions as that present in the structure shown in Figures 5, 6 and '7, without, however, the manual control members 52 and 53.

While, for purposes of illustration; I have shown a type of centralizing device employing a tiltable guide red, a slide thereon and angled link connections to the blades, a variety of other acterconnecting theup-and-down swinging and.

pitch-varying rotational displacements of the relatively little pitch-varying rotational displacements of any of the blades but that differential up-or-down swinging displacementsbetween the blades cause pitch-varying rotational displacements of one or more of the said blades.

2. An airscrew including a hub, a. plurality of to permit flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades in relation to said hub, a guide member pivotally mounted on said hub, a slide on said guide member, means correlating the displacement of said slide with the flapping displacements of said blades and means correlating the displacement of said guide member with the pitch-varying displacements of said blades.

3. An aircraft lift rotor including a hub, a

plurality of airfoil blades, hinge means permitting up-and-down swinging motion of said blades and to-and-fro motion of the blades relative to the little pitch-varying rotational displacements of a any of the blades but'that differential up or down tuating means may be substituted without de-' parting from the essence of my invention, such v as a heating central member with spring attachments, or a tiltable member'wlth spring'or other resilient centralizing means. Furthermore the levers, bearings, pivots and links may take any of the wide variety of mechanical forms and dispositions known in the art without departing from the essential attributes of my invention. I therefore desire the present embodiments to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description, to indicate-the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is hereby claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An aircraft lift rotor including a plurality of airfoil blades, hinge means permitting up-anddown swinging motion of said blades, pitch-varying pivot means permitting pitch-varying rotation of each blade about an axis disposed genswinging displacements between the blades cause pitch-varying rotational displacements of one or more of the said blades, and connecting means correlating the to-and fro displacements of the blades with the pitch-varying displacements of the blades.

4. An aircraft lift rotor including a hub, a plu rality of airfoil blades, hinge means permitting up-and-down swinging motion of said blades and to-and-fro motion of the blades relative to the hub in the surface of rotation of the blades, pitch-varying pivot means permitting pitchvarying rotation of each blade about an axis disposed generally longitudinally of the blade, means interconnecting lthe up-and-down swing ing and pitch-varying rotational displacements of the blades such that simultaneous like up or down swinging displacements of all-of said blades cause relatively little pitch-varying rotational displacements of any of the blades but that differential up or down swinging displacements between the blades cause pitch-varying rotational displacements of one or more of the said blades, connecting means correlating the to-and-fro displacements of the blades with the pitch-varying displacements of the blades, and control means operable by the pilot for differentially changing the pitch of the blades on opposite sides of their path of travel about the rotor axis.

5. An aircraft lift rotor including a rotor hub, a plurality of blades pivoted thereto for flapping, feathering and lagging, a transversely movable centering member, means inter-linking said cen-= erally longitudinally of the blade, and means in- It tering member with the flapping motion of the blades, means interlinking the transverse motion of the centering member with the feathering motion of the blades, and connecting means correlating lagging displacements of the blades with feathering displacements thereof.

6. An aircraft lift rotor including a rotor hub, a plurality of blades pivoted thereto for flapping,

feathering'and lagging, a transversely movable centering member, means interlinki'ng said centering member with the flapping motion of the blades, means interlinking the transverse motion of the centering member with the feathering motion of the blades, connecting means correlating lagging displacements of the blades with feathering displacements thereof, and control means onerable by the pilot for differentially changing the.

pitch of the blades on opposite sides of their path 7 of travel about-the rotor axis.

7. An aircraft lift rotor including a rotor hub, a plurality of blades pivoted thereto for flapping,

feathering and lagging, a transversely movable centering member so interlinked with said blades that it is displaced generally transversely by differential flapping motions of the blades, means interlinking transverse displacements of the centering member with feathering displacements of the blades, and connecting means correlating lagging displacements of the blades with feathering displacements thereof.

8. An aircraft lift rotor including a rotor hub,

a plurality of blades pivoted thereto for flapping,

feathering and la ging, a transversely movable centering member so interlinked with said blades "that it is displaced generally transversely by differential flapping motions of the blades, means interlinking transverse displacements of the centering member with feathering displacements of the blades, connecting means correlating lagging displacements of the blades with feathering displacements thereof, and control means operable by the pilot for differentially changingthe pitch of the blades on opposite sides of their path of travel about the rotor axis.

. 9. An airscrew including a'hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub so as to permit flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades in relation to said hub and a to permit lagging displacements of saidblades,

means correlating the tilting displacement relative to the hub of the surface swept by the said blades in their rotation with the pitch-varying displacements of said blades; substantially without effect of changes in the form of the said surface on pitch-varying displacements, and,

connecting means correlating lagging displacements of the blades with the pitch-varying displacements thereof.

10. An. airscrew including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub so as to permit flapping and pitch-varying displacements of saidblades in relation to said hub and topermit lagging displacements of said blades,

means correlating the tilting displacement relative to the hub of the surface swept by the said blades in their-rotation with the pitch-varying displacements of said blades; substantially without effect of changes in the form of the said surface on pitch-varying displacements, connecting means correlating lagging displacements of the blades with the pitch-varying displacements thereof, and control means operable by the pilot for differentially changing the pitch of the blades on opposite sides of their the rotor axis. 1

11. An aircraft lift rotor including a rotor hub,-

a plurality of blades pivoted thereto for flapping and feathering, a freely tiltable centering member mounted on said hub, means positioning said centering member by the flapping motion of the blades, and means interlinking the centering member with the blades, said interlinking means ass-2,154

cordance with the change of position of said centering member.

13. An aircraft rotor including a rotor hub, a plurality of blades pivoted thereto for flapping and feathering, a transversely movable centering member, positioningmeans interlinking said centering member with said blades for positioning said centering member by theresponse to the flapping motions of the blades, and means interconnecting said centering member and said blades to cause feathering displacements of said blades in accordance with the changes of position of said centering member.

14. An aircraft rotor including a rotor hub, a pluralityof blades pivoted thereto for flapping and feathering, a freely movable centering member, means for moving said centering memberresponsive to the flapping motion of said blades, and means for feathering said blades responsive to the movement of said centering-member.

15. A stabilizing device for articulated aircraft rotors comprising a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivoted to said hub for flapping and feathering, and means including a freely movable cen tering member adapted to be moved by the flapping motions of said blades for feathering said blades responsive to the flapping motion thereof.

- 16. An aircraft rotor having a hub,- a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub and adapted to permit flapping and pitch-varying displacements of saidblades in relation to said hub, and means interlinking said flapping and pitch-varying displacements, said means including a freely movable centering member, positioning means interlinking said centering member with said blades for positioning said centering member responsive to the flapping displacements .of said blades, and means interlinking said centering member with said blades for causing pitchvarying displacements thereof responsive to change in position of said centering member.

17. An .airscrew including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub and adapted to'permit flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades in relation to said hub, and means for correlating the flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades, said means including a freely flexible member, means for moving said member responsive to the flapping displacements of said blades, and means for .producing pitch-varying displacements of said blades responsive to movements of said flexible.

' member.

path of travel about 18. An airscrew including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub and adapted to permit flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades in relation tosaid hub, and means for inter-relating the flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades,

said means including a freely movable member connected in common to two or more of said blades and adapted to move in response to their a combined flapping displacements, and .means for changing the pitch-varying displacements of said blades responsive to movements of said movable member. I

19. An airscrew including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub and adapted to permit flapping and pitch-varying I displacements of said blades in relation to said hub, and means for inter relating the flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades. said means including a. freely tiltable member connected to two or more of said blades and adapted to be displaced in response to the combined flapping displacements of said blades, and means interlinking said tiltable member with the blades for producing pitch-varying displacements of said blades responsive to the transverse component of the displacement of said tiltable member.

20. An airscrew including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub and adapted to permit flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades in relation to said hub, and means for inter-relating the flapping and pitch-varying displacements of said blades, said means including a freely movable centering member connected to said blades and adapted to be tiltabiy moved responsive to flapping of said blades, and means inter-linking said movable member with said blades whereby pitch-varying displacements of said blades are produced only by the transverse component of the movement of said movable member.

21. An airscrew including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub and adapted to permit flapping and feathering displacements of said blades in relation to'said hub, and means correlating the feathering displacements with the differential flapping displacements of said blades but substantially not with their like flapping displacements, said correlating means including a freely movable centering member, means for tiltably moving said centering member responsive to the flapping displacements of said blades, and means interlinking said cen- I tering member with said blades whereby only the transverse component of the movement of said centering member produces feathering displacements of said blades.

22. An airscrew including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades pivotally secured to said hub and adapted to permit flapping ,and feathering displacements of said blades in relation to said hub. and means correlating the feathering displacements with the flapping displacements of. said blades whereby the feathering effect produced by diiierential flapping displacements of the blades is different from that produced by like flapping displacements of said blades, said correlating means including a freely movable centering member, means for tiltably moving said centering member responsive to the flapping dis placements of said blades, and means interlinking said centering member with said blades whereby only the transverse component of the movement of said centering member produces featheringdisplacements of said blades.

23. An aircraft lift rotor including a hub, a plurality of airfoil blades, hinge means permitting up-and-down swinging motion-of said blades, pitch-varying pivot means permitting pitch-varying rotation of each blade about an axis disposed longitudinally of the blade, control means operable by the pilot for differentially changing the pitch of the blades on opposite sides of their pathof travel about the rotor axis, and means for producing pitch-varying rotational displacements of said blades upon differential swinging displacements of said blades while causing relatively little pitch-varying rotational displacements upon si.-'

multaneous like swinging displacements of said blades, said means including a freely movable centering member, means for tiltably moving said centering member responsive to the flapping displacements of said blades, and means interlinln member, positioning means interlinking said centering member with said blades for positioning said member responsive to the flapping motions of said blades, and means interlinking said cen tering member with said blades for causing teatim ering displacements of said blades in response to the position of said centering member;

25. An aircraft lift rotor including a rotor hub, a plurality of blades pivoted thereto for flapping and feathering, control means operable by the pilot for differentially changing the pitch of the blades on opposite sides of their path of travel about the rotor axis, a freely tiltable centering member, means interlinking said centering member with said blades whereby said centering member is displaced generally transversely by diflferential flapping motions of said blades, and means interlinking said centering member with said blades for causing feathering displacements of said blades responsive to transverse displacements of said centering member.

HAVILAND H. PLATT. 

